A Familiar Song
by peut-etre-poulet
Summary: spoilers: THE END - Claire, futurefic; Claire discovers Drive Shaft and becomes addicted to playing one song repeatedly.


**Title::..**A Familiar Song  
**Spoilers::..**_The End_  
**Rating::..**G  
**Genre::..**Fluff  
**Characters::..**Charlie, Claire, Aaron and Liam  
**Pairing::..**CC  
**Author's Note::..**Lost fic 107: it's based after the last episode, when the 316 plane left the island, with Claire tucked safely in it, set to return to Aaron. So this is a look at what could have happened after that, the life Claire led off the island.  
**Summary::..**Claire discovers Drive Shaft and becomes addicted to playing one song repeatedly.

* * *

It was during Claire's first day at the caves that she learnt of Charlie's musical talents. She had awoken from her doze to find the activity within the cold walls had silenced. Everyone had scuttled off to find something better to do. This allowed the sound of Charlie strumming his guitar to carry effortlessly over to where Claire lay.

Her curiosity prevented her from returning to her nap. She lifted herself off of the ground and waddled toward the sound. The nooks she passed were either empty, or contained those attempting to regain the sleep they had lost in paranoia the previous night. The light trickling of the waterfall harmonized with the peaceful music, removing any sense of menace from the shadows.

Rounding a corner she found the source. Charlie – strangely withdrawn, with his back to her, his shoulders hunched over the guitar and the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head. She felt it best not to interrupt. A look of concentration was sure to be fixed on his face. She did not wish to spoil this moment of quiet pondering; he clearly wasn't attempting to draw attention to himself.

He stumbled over the strings. He removed one hand and held it out beside him, for Claire to see. Fixating on the hand she saw it tremble, quite noticeably. He flicked the hand about wildly, but this did not stop the shaking. Concerned, she stepped forward.

"I didn't know you played guitar." She began casually.

He jumped in surprise, turning to face her. "Yeah, a little secret talent for you."

"How come you never told me before?" She inquired.

"Well when you're stranded on an island musical talents aren't really a common topic of conversation." He stated. "It's more- how are we going to get food tomorrow, that sort of stuff…"

"Yeah…" She agreed. She became alert when he placed the guitar in the case. "Oh, I thought you would play some more."

He smiled, returning the guitar to his lap. "Any requests?"

"What you were playing before sounded nice." She suggested. He began to play again. She relaxed against a wall, allowing her eyes to flutter shut. This song sounded familiar. Yet she did not recognize why.

* * *

It hadn't been difficult for Claire to track down a Drive Shaft album. The record company had cashed in on the tragedy of Charlie's death. They had re-released the original two albums, a greatest hit compilation including a bonus track recorded by the band in the wake of Charlie's passing and there was the brand new album, filled with previously unreleased tracks. Claire had snapped them all up.

She took them back to the home she shared with Kate and Aaron. She closed the bedroom door behind her and the music met her ears. After listening to many tracks a familiar rhythm greeted her at the beginning of track eleven. She leant against the wall and closed her eyes. Charlie began to form in the darkness behind her eyelids.

_She could remember the way the ocean breeze had pushed the sweaty hair back from her face as she had walked along the shore to where Charlie sat, strumming his guitar. "You play that song quite often."_

_"The German's have a word for the kind of song that gets stuck in your head. They call it an_ ohrwurm_." He had replied, grinning. "This is my _ohrwurm."

A smile formed on her face. Within the lyrics and the guitar riff she felt at home. She could remember the sea spray tickling her nose, the sand constantly underneath her nails and the way Charlie had developed creases around his eyes when he had smiled. The song drew to a close. Before the next song could begin she bought Charlie's _ohrwurm_ back to the beginning.

* * *

Aaron had heard the song a million times. It was his mum's favourite song. He had heard it almost every night, for as long as he could remember, through the wall that separated his room from his mum's. This song had lulled him to sleep a countless amount of nights.

He had told Aunt Kate he would be working on his research project tonight. He had fully intended to spend the night doing so. Then the song had begun. This had distracted him from his homework. He had opened a new tab and typed the familiar lyrics into the search engine. He had never heard of Drive Shaft, but the first link led him to their website.

Charlie Pace. The name wasn't new. Where had he seen it before? Scrolling down he found Charlie had died in the plane crash his mum and Aunt Kate had been in. Perhaps this explained her infatuation with the song. His school project was quickly forgotten.

* * *

At first Claire didn't want to discuss the topic of Charlie. She didn't know how Aaron had found out about Charlie. She didn't ask, she didn't want to prompt any further discussion. She avoided the conversation. Talking about Charlie was off-limits to everyone, even her son. She hoped if she removed the topic from conversation often enough he would grow bored and give up.

But her avoidance only added fuel to the fire of his curiosity. He didn't drop his quest for answers; instead he looked to a different source. This led him to Liam Pace. He slid the address of Charlie's brother across the table to her. He sure was a persistent little bugger.

* * *

Charlie had never told her about his older brother. Claire's own scavenger hunt across the internet had enlightened her to Liam's existence. The lead singer of Drive Shaft, putting a voice to the lyrics Charlie had written down. Liam had written all the dedications to Charlie in the CD's Claire had bought.

She had imagined meeting him so many times before. Now he finally sat in front of her. He was very different from the young boy Claire had seen standing beside a miniature Charlie in the childhood photo posted on the website. She couldn't speak. All she could do was stare at him, wearing his conservative sweater.

There were many photos of Charlie around the house, from different times and different places. But the same smile was presented in each frame. She looked back to Liam; he was admiring the photos as well.

"I wanna tell you about him…" Claire began.

**The End.**


End file.
